Needle bearings

ABSTRACT

A needle bearing in which the space for circulation of the needles between the two races is reduced in a plurality of angularly spaced zones around the bearing. To this end the ring forming one of the races is radially deformed in one direction in the region of each of the zones and is supported by an auxiliary resilient member, either the ring or the auxiliary member or both having a variable peripheral profile so that when subjected to axial compression, radial deformation is obtained both of the auxiliary member and the ring in accordance with the peripheral variations to thereby give raised appearance in the zones around the bearing. Furthermore the axial compression of the auxiliary member is adjustable during manufacture to produce a desired radial deformation and this axial compression is subjected into the bearing to maintain this radial deformation permanently during the life of the bearing.

United States Patent i I [72] Inventor Alfred Pitner Paris, France [21Appl. No. 853,075 [22] Filed Aug. 26, 1969 [45] Patented May 18, 1971[73] Assignee Rueil Nadella Malmaison, France fractional part interest[32] Priority Aug. 30, 1968 [33] France 164,658

[54] NEEDLE BEARINGS 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S. Cl 308/207 [51]Int. Cl Fl6c 35/06 [50] Field of Search 308/ 207, 189, 184

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 748,825 1/1904 Webb 308/207Primary Examiner-Frederick L. Mattcson Assistant ExaminerFrank SuskoAttorney-Robert E. Burns ABSTRACT: A needle bearing in which the spacefor circulation of the needles between the two races reduced in aplurality of angularly spaced zones around the bearing. To this end thering forming one of the races is radially deformed in one direction inthe region of each of the zones and is supported by an auxiliaryresilient member, either the ring or the auxiliary member or both havinga variable peripheral profile so that when subjected to axialcompression, radial deformation is obtained both of the auxiliary memberand the ring in accordance with the peripheral variations to therebygive raised appearance in the zones around the bearing. F urthermore theaxial compression of the auxiliary member is adjustable duringmanufacture to produce a desired radial deformation and this axialcompression is subjected into the bearing to maintain this radialdeformation permanently during the life of the bearing.

. NEEDLE BEARINGS This invention relates to needle bearings and inparticular to a needle bearing in which the clearance obtained for thecirculation of the needles between the 'two raceways is locally reducedin several angularly distributed zones. This may be obtained either by asuitable shaping of one of the raceways or by a deformation of the ringcarrying this raceway obtained by exerting pressure on the correspondingzones on the surface of the ring opposed to the raceway or on thehousing or seating which accommodates this ring as is known from U.S.Pat. No.

The production of such a device with one or more resilient supportingpoints, so as to provide zero clearance or a slight prestrain, is alsoknown from U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,748, the initial prestrain or thatarising from possible expansions being limited by the characteristics ofthe resilient device used.

Instead of a thick ring, as in the prior technique it has been proposedin British Pat. No. I,2()4,l56 to use a thin ring for such bearingswhich ring is obtained by shaping, without removal of metal, a metalsheet having a thickness appreciably less than the diameter of theneedles and to provide. in the ring, zones, radially deformed in onedirection, which are supported by a resilient auxiliary part whoseelasticity is such that the needles are able, in passing to radiallyresiliently deform said zones in the opposite sense whereby the stressesto which the needles are subjected remain low. By exerting a radialconstraint on the undeformed zones, the elasticity of the ring as awhole also enables the deformed zones to be temporarily separated orspread out and thus to accommodate without prestrain, a shaft inside thebearing or the bearing inside a bore.

It is an object. of the present invention to provide an improvement inthis known device.

According to the present invention there is provided a needle bearing ofthe type in which the space provided for circulation of the needlesbetween the two races is locally reduced in a plurality of angularlyspaced zones by radially deforming in one direction the ring forming oneof the races and supporting the deformed zones of the ring by anauxiliary resilient member, the passage of the needles past these zonesresulting in an elastic deformation thereof opposite to said onedirection, wherein either the ring or the auxiliary member or both has avariable peripheral profile so that when it is sub jected to .axialcompression, radial deformation is obtained which varies therearound in'accordance with the peripheral variations to thereby give a reducedclearance in the desired zones and means are provided including a thrustmember acting axially on the auxiliary member, to maintain the axialcompression of the auxiliary member corresponding to a determined radialdeformation.

The peripheral profile of the ring may be made variable either by avariation in thickness of the cylindrical body of the ring or formingthe ring with alternate purely cylindrical ring segments andintermediate segments provided with radial flanges which locallyincrease the rigidity of the ring, so that the radial deformations inthe zones between the segments provided with flanges are greater than inthe pure ring segments. In this case, the radial deformation canbe'produced by providing as the auxiliary member a resilientlydeformable collar interposed between the cylindrical surface of the ringand the cylindrical surface on which the bearing is mounted and bysubjecting this band to an axial deformation for example by means of athreaded ring engaged ina bearing part or mounting for the bearing.

When the variation in the peripheral profile is provided in The thrustmember, in order to bring about the radial deformation, may beincorporated in thebearing, in the form of a threaded ring alreadymentioned, in which case it is possible to adjust the clearance of thebearing.

It is also possible for. the bearing to be preadjusted, that is for thedegree of radial deformation of the ring to be determined once and forall when the bearing is assembled. In this case the thrust may becreated by a press which exerts its action on a supporting member inaxial contact with the resiliently deformable collar or the segment ofresiliently deformable material, forming part of the auxiliary member,which is then contained radially from the side opposite the bearing ringby a sleeve to which the supporting member is connected after thedesired radial deformation has been produced, this sleeve being thusincorporated irreversibly in the bearing.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is an axial section of a needle bearing constructed as anembodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a view of one end of the bearing ring and of the auxiliarypart shown in FIG. I,

FIG. 3 is a radial section of a purely cylindrical ring encircled by anauxiliary part with a variable peripheral profile,

FIG. 4 is a view showing a method of obtaining preadjustment of radialclearance in a bearing,

FIG. 5 represents a bearing comprising an auxiliary part with a variableperipheral profile, entirely of metal,

FIG. 6 is an end view of the auxiliary part used in the assembly of FIG.5, viewed from left to right in this FIG.

FIG. 1 illustrates a bearing with adjustable radial clearance between ashaft 1 and the bore 2 of a frame 3. In particular, the bearing providesfor the reduction of radial clearance to a predetermined value in threezones A, B, C, spaced around the periphery of the bearing. For thispurpose, the bearing ring of thin metal 4 is purely cylindrical in shapewithin the zones A, B, C, but in between the each adjacent two zones A,B, C, the ring includesat one end an outwardly directed radial flange 6and at the other end an inwardly directed radial flange 7. A continuouscollar of elastomer 9 is interposed between the external cylindricalsurface of the ring 4 and the bore 2 and is axially sandwiched between,at one end the radial flanges 6 or a radial f ace 2aof the bore and atthe other end a washer II axially located by a threaded ring l0 screwedinto the bore 2.

It will be seen that the axial compression exerted by the threaded ring10 on the ring of elastomer 9 appears as a radial deformation of thering 9 which effects an inward radial deformation of the bearing ring 4and this occurs to a greater extent 7 in the zones A, B, C where thering has lower rigidity.

theauxiliary member the ring having a constant cylindrical profile, thisvariation may be obtained, for example, by providing a two-partconstruction for this part, for example by making the auxiliary memberin two segments, namely a metal segment having alternate zones whichengage on the ring and zones radially spaced from the ring and a segmentof resiliently deformable material to which an axial thrust may beapplied in order to produce radial deformation of the auxiliary memberand in tum radial deformation of the bearing ring.

In FIG. 3, the ring 14 of the bearing is purely cylindrical and has aconstant radial thickness. The localized deformation in the zones A, B,C is produced by means of an auxiliary part 15 encircling the ring 14and composed of two pieces. One of the two pieces 16 is of metal with anarcuate extent of about 300, having alternate segments 17 and 18 incontact with the outer periphery of the ring 14 at the positions B andC, the segments 18 being radially spaced from the ring 14. The other ofthe two pieces 19 comprises a segment of about arcuate extent whichmakes contact with the ring 14 at the position A and is formed fromelastic material similar to the material of the ring of elastomer 9 ofFIG. I.

In an assembleddevice using the preassembly of FIG. 3, the band segment19, of elastomeric material, is as in FIG. 1 subjected to the action ofa threaded thrust ring 10, the effect of which is to axially compressthe segment 19 which results in a radial compression of the segments 17of the part I5 and therefore the part I9 so as to reduce the clearanceat thepositions A, B, C of the bearing.

In the embodiment shown in FIG, 4, the part assembly of FIG. 3 is shown,employed in a bearing with preadjusted clearance. In this example, thepreassembly 14, 15 of FIG. 3 is contained in an outer sleeve 21 placedin an accurately formed bore of a rigid ring 22 which forms part of theequipment for assembling the bearing. The elastic segment 19 is axiallycompressed through the intermediary of the pistonlike member 23 slidablein the bore of the sleeve 21, and acted on by the thrust mandrel 24 of apress (not shown). The assembling equipment is completed by acylindrical gauge 26 placed inside the ring of needles. The press isoperated and when the axial compression which gives the desired radialdeformation of the positions A, B, C is reached, the sleeve 21 and thesupporting part 27 are joined together, for example by welding 25. Inthis way a predetermined radial deformation may be applied to thebearing.

ln the adjustable clearance bearing of FIG. 5, the bearing ring 14 isalso cylindrical and the auxiliary part 28 is con stituted by a bandhaving an interior cylindrical surface 29 in contact with the ring 14and the outer surface 31 of which has a general conical or tapered formcorresponding to the tapered form 32 of a bore 2 receiving the bearing.The peripheral development of the auxiliary part 28 comprisesalternately solid segments 33 provided at the positions A, B, C, andintermediate hollow segments 34. in order to give the solid segments 33a certain radial elasticity, their edges are bent radially outwards at33a so that the auxiliary part engages the conical surface of the bore 2only along the edges 33a. The part auxiliary 28 also includes a radialflange 36 against which a threaded thrust ring 37 engages.

lt is clear that when an axial thrust is exerted on the flange 36 bytightening the threaded ring 37 the greatest radial deformation of thering is produced at right angles to the solid segments 33.

The auxiliary part 28 is advantageously made by rolling a punched-outblank and welding the adjoining edges 38 thereof.

By use of the means described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,928,702 and 3,004,323the deformation of the bearing ring at the positions A, B, C, can bemade variable axially so that the corresponding raceway is convex.

1 claim:

1. A needle bearing comprising in combination inner and outer ringsforming inner and outer races, a ring of needles between the two races,radially directed deformations in one direction in one of the rings andan auxiliary resilient member supporting the deformed zones of the ringhaving radially directed deformations therein, the passage of theneedles past these zones resulting in an elastic deformation thereofopposite to said one direction wherein one at least of the two partsconstituted by the ring having radially directed deformations and theauxiliary member has a variable peripheral profile so that when it issubjected to axial compression. radial deformation is obtained whichvaries thcrearound in accordance with the peripheral variations tothereby give a reduced clearance between the two races in the zones ofthe bearing containing the radial deformations and means are providedincluding a thrust member acting axially on the auxiliary member tomaintain the axial compression of the auxiliary member corresponding toa determined radial deformation.

2. A bearing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the peripheral profile ofthe ring is varied by a variation in thickness of the cylindrical bodyof the ring.

3. A bearing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the ring having radiallydirected deformations is generally cylindrical and alternate segments ofthe ring are formed with radial end flanges which locally increase therigidity of the ring so that the radial deformations between thesegments having the flanges are greater than in these segments nothaving radial flanges.

4. A bearing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the auxiliary membercomprises a continuous collar of resiliently deformable material.

5. A hearing as set forth in claim 4 further comprising a threaded ringscrewed into a bearing part or into the bearing mounting and comprisingsaid thrust member.

6. A bearing as set forth in claim 1 in which the auxiliary member isformed from two parts and comprises a metal segment having alternatezones which engage he ring and zones radially spaced from the ring and asegment of resiliently deformable material to which an axial thrust maybe applied in order to produce radial deformation of the auxiliarymember and in at least radial deformation of the bearing ring.

7. A hearing as set forth in claim 6 further comprising a press. athrust member forming part of the press for applying said axial thrustto the auxiliary member, a support member through which said axialthrust is applied to said auxiliary member and means fixing the supportmember in a position giving the desired radial deformation of thebearing ring, during manufacture.

8. A bearing as set forth in claim 7 further comprising a sleevecontaining the auxiliary member and means adjoining the sleeve to thesupport member in the position providing the desired radial deformationof the bearing ring.

9. A bearing as set forth in claim 1 wherein the auxiliary membercomprises a collar, a first cylindrical surface on the collar in contactwith the ring and a second generally conical surface on the collar,means to receive the bearing including a conical bore to receive theconical surface of the collar, said collar comprising alternate solidand hollow segments the elasticity of the solid segments being obtainedby radially bending the edges of the segments and supporting the memberin the here by means of the bent upward flanges only.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. ,57Dated May 18, 1971 Inventor-( ALFRED PITNER It is certified that errorappears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

In the Heading to the Patent, delete item [73] ASSIGNEE" all threelines, and substitute:

--[73] ASSIGNEE NADELLA RUEIL-MALMAISON, FRANCE Undivided one-halfinterest-- Signed and sealed this 23rd day of April 197b,.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD MQFLE'ICHEmJR. C MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents I FORM PO-IDSO (10-69) UscMM Dc 60376430 I [1.5. GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE 196. O-$6lllt

1. A needle bearing comprising in combination inner And outer ringsforming inner and outer races, a ring of needles between the two races,radially directed deformations in one direction in one of the rings andan auxiliary resilient member supporting the deformed zones of the ringhaving radially directed deformations therein, the passage of theneedles past these zones resulting in an elastic deformation thereofopposite to said one direction wherein one at least of the two partsconstituted by the ring having radially directed deformations and theauxiliary member has a variable peripheral profile so that when it issubjected to axial compression, radial deformation is obtained whichvaries therearound in accordance with the peripheral variations tothereby give a reduced clearance between the two races in the zones ofthe bearing containing the radial deformations and means are providedincluding a thrust member acting axially on the auxiliary member tomaintain the axial compression of the auxiliary member corresponding toa determined radial deformation.
 2. A bearing as set forth in claim 1wherein the peripheral profile of the ring is varied by a variation inthickness of the cylindrical body of the ring.
 3. A bearing as set forthin claim 1 wherein the ring having radially directed deformations isgenerally cylindrical and alternate segments of the ring are formed withradial end flanges which locally increase the rigidity of the ring sothat the radial deformations between the segments having the flanges aregreater than in these segments not having radial flanges.
 4. A bearingas set forth in claim 1 wherein the auxiliary member comprises acontinuous collar of resiliently deformable material.
 5. A bearing asset forth in claim 4 further comprising a threaded ring screwed into abearing part or into the bearing mounting and comprising said thrustmember.
 6. A bearing as set forth in claim 1 in which the auxiliarymember is formed from two parts and comprises a metal segment havingalternate zones which engage the ring and zones radially spaced from thering and a segment of resiliently deformable material to which an axialthrust may be applied in order to produce radial deformation of theauxiliary member and in at least radial deformation of the bearing ring.7. A bearing as set forth in claim 6 further comprising a press, athrust member forming part of the press for applying said axial thrustto the auxiliary member, a support member through which said axialthrust is applied to said auxiliary member and means fixing the supportmember in a position giving the desired radial deformation of thebearing ring, during manufacture.
 8. A bearing as set forth in claim 7further comprising a sleeve containing the auxiliary member and meansadjoining the sleeve to the support member in the position providing thedesired radial deformation of the bearing ring.
 9. A bearing as setforth in claim 1 wherein the auxiliary member comprises a collar, afirst cylindrical surface on the collar in contact with the ring and asecond generally conical surface on the collar, means to receive thebearing including a conical bore to receive the conical surface of thecollar, said collar comprising alternate solid and hollow segments theelasticity of the solid segments being obtained by radially bending theedges of the segments and supporting the member in the bore by means ofthe bent upward flanges only.